Episode · Conversations with Tyler · 2023-01-11
Tyler Cowen & Katherine Rundell: books mentioned on Conversations with Tyler
Katherine Rundell on the Art of Words
Katherine Rundell is, in a word, enthusiastic. She's enthusiastic about John Donne.
Tyler Cowen recommended Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell, and discussed Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell, Skysteppers by Katherine Rundell, Foundation by Isaac Asimov, and The pilgrim's progress by John Bunyan. Katherine Rundell recommended John Donne, life, mind, and art by John Carey, Faerie queene by Edmund Spenser, Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones, and The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka, and discussed Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, Biathanatos by John Donne, Mary Poppins by Pamela L. Travers, and Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Super-Infinite
Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell is a critically acclaimed biographical work that chronicles the wild, multifaceted life and literary evolution of the seventeenth-century poet and preacher John Donne.
Recommended“but most prominently for me she is the author of the recent book super infinite the transformations of John Donne which is this year so far probably my favorite book of the Year”
Where to get it
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Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a whimsical collection of light verse by T.S.
Discussed“and some of it was a lot of it was T.S eliot's Possum's book of practical cats”
Where to get it
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Biathanatos
Discussed“and he wrote the first full-length treaties in the English language by Thanatos on suicide which argues that in very specific limited circumstances suicide is not a sin that Christ himself was the one great suicide”
Where to get it
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John Donne, life, mind, and art
John Donne, Life, Mind, and Art is a comprehensive biographical and critical study by John Carey that explores the complex life and poetry of the famous metaphysical poet.
Recommended“and John Kerry is completely spectacular book”
Where to get it
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Foundation
Foundation by Isaac Asimov is a groundbreaking science fiction series chronicling the collapse and rebirth of a galactic empire through the predictive science of psychohistory.
Discussed“if I think of some fictional works I read as a child like Isaac asimov's Foundation there was a thrill to the complete newness of it”
Where to get it
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Faerie queene
The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser is an epic, allegorical English poem celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Queen Elizabeth I while exploring moral virtues through the adventures of various knights.
Recommended“and people should put the side about a week of their lives and read the fairy queen”
Where to get it
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Howl's Moving Castle
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a whimsical and enchanting fantasy novel that operates as a modern fairy tale filled with magic, transformation, and unexpected adventure.
Recommended“the obvious one being maybe something like fire and Hemlock or house Moving Castle”
Where to get it
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Fire and Hemlock
Fire and Hemlock is an imaginative and intricately plotted fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones that weaves folklore, memory, and adolescent growth into a modern mythic narrative.
Recommended“the obvious one being maybe something like fire and Hemlock or house Moving Castle”
Where to get it
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Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins by Pamela L.
Discussed“uh I'm gonna say underrated because the books are much stranger and wilder than we know”
Where to get it
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Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert's classic 19th-century novel tells the tragic story of Emma Bovary, a provincial doctor's wife who engages in extramarital affairs to escape the banalities of her daily life.
Discussed“I was wondering if Madame Bovary counts as a novel of ideas well yes yes in that case Madame Bovary which I remember reading as a teenager”
Where to get it
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The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka is a collection of surreal fiction best known for its opening novella where a traveling salesman named Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed into a giant insect.
Recommended“I have a picture book called my first Kafka which is a children's book retelling I didn't write it I just read it of metamorphosis and now I give them to all the toddlers”
Where to get it
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The pilgrim's progress
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan is a famous Christian allegory that follows a character named Christian on his arduous journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, overcoming numerous trials, temptations, and monsters along the way.
Discussed“and John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is that book actually good yes it is”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I wrote a book called why you should read children's books even though you are so old and wise”
“the woman who wrote 101 Dalmatians and I captured the castle”
“the woman who wrote 101 Dalmatians and I captured the castle”